When yourely on tipsfor your income, it can be hard to save money.

When you go home with cash every day, it seems to burn a hole right through your pocket.

And from one day to the next, you have no idea how much youre going to make.

A bartender serves drinks to two customers.

Our Ultimate Tipping Guide Explains How Much to Leave in Every Situation

On my worst shift, I owed the restaurant $45 (gotta love those dine-and-dash folks).

I have a friend who absolutely relies on getting the occasional group that tips $700.

His other four shifts barely pay for gas to work.

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With those fluctuations in pay, it can seem nearly impossible to set a budget.

Heres how to save money as a server.

Youve got to know where you stand.

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Our team has compiled alist of creative waysyou can fatten your bank account this week.

This is a long list, so dont get overwhelmed.

Go ahead and start now, but be sure to bookmark this post so you might easily return later.

Well keep it updated as offers changes or expire.

Track every dollar you actually make, after tipping out other staff (but before buying post-work shots).

Total up your income for 10 weeks, then find your average weekly income.

This process helps smooth out the differences between individual shifts.

If youre working at your job long enough, do another 10-week average.

Compare it to the first 10 weeks to see how much your income varies.

Now you’ve got the option to determine a margin of error for your budgeting.

Pick the lower of the averages, and base your budget on that figure, just to be safe.

The federal tipped minimum wage is $2.13 per hour.

Because bartenders make the rest as tips, theyre often stuck with a large tax bill every year.

Deposit Larger Denominations in the Bank

Different people choose different bills.

This way, youll use most of your earnings to build up your checking account and cover fixed expenses.

I use $5 and $10 bills for most purchases.

This is the DIY version of those checking accounts that round up andtransfer the difference to your savings.

Change adds up fast.

Now I use it to fund travel.

One jar netted me $600 to use for a trip to Costa Rica.

This helps him save even more quickly than my change jar.

I like to use change to build up my fun/travel fund and singles to build up my savings account.

Figure out which system works best for you.

When the time came to buy her ticket, she smashed it open.

But What About Paychecks?

Even if you do get a paycheck, you likely dont get a checkconsistentenough to base a budget on.

That way, you dont fritter awayallyour hard earned money on shots of Jameson.

(Just some of it.)

Freelancer Caroline Gaspich contributed to this report.

(Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)

You know which ones were talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries…